Theos-Talk Archives (August 2006 Message tt00063)

Dear Carlos,

This is a personal appeal to you. You may wish to ignore it, 
ridicule it or use it against me. I have no control of how you are 
going to respond to it, nor wish to have. It is entirely up to you.

If my memory serves me well, we first met in Porto Alegre, in 1980, 
when you joined Dharma TS Lodge in that city. You contributed many 
talks to the Lodge while at the same time being very active in the 
environmental movement, both in Brazil and in other countries. You 
wrote a number of books, some of which have had excerpts published 
in "Sophia", the national magazine of the TS in Brazil.

I am also aware of your contacts with Geoffrey Farthing and how much 
you admired him and learned from him. I happened to be present at 
the General Council meeting at Adyar, in December 1995, when the 
(unanimous) decision was made to award the Subba Row Medal to Mr 
Farthing for his distinguished contribution to theosophical 
literature. I had read many of his articles in 'The Theosophist' and 
even reviewed his book 'Deity, Cosmos and Man' in that magazine. One 
of my favourite articles by him - 'HPB on Meditation and Yoga' - was 
published in that same magazine in its December, 1992 issue.

Interestingly, at that same meeting of the General Council it was 
also decided to also award the Subba Row Medal to Dr Hugh Shearman, 
another well-known author who, like Mr Farthing, has also passed 
away. The nature of their contributions could not be more different, 
and while Mr Farthing was a very energetic exponent of 
the 'original' Theosophy as taught by HPB and the Masters, Dr 
Shearman utilized his theosophical insights to understand the world 
of literature, psychology, sociology and mysticism in his many books 
and numerous articles. I felt the Council's decision was a very 
balanced one.

Why am I saying all this? Perhaps to suggest to you that in the 
theosophical movement we can have debate and vigorous discussion 
without personal attacks and vilification. I have read quite a 
number of articles by Mr Farthing and did not find even one word of 
attack or harsh criticism against anyone. The same with Dr Shearman. 
And I sure these two men did not see eye to eye in matters relating 
to theosophical teachings. 

I am aware of your accusations against John Algeo and Daniel 
Caldwell. You have repeated them on this list almost every day since 
you joined it earlier this year. Perhaps I can share some 
information here about how Dr Algeo's work is making HPB's teachings 
more widely known in Australia, for example. Last year, the 
Australian Section distributed, among its Lodges, Branches and 
Groups, copies of the DVD 'HPB's Diagram of Meditation' featuring 
John Algeo as a presenter. The Section has an approximate membership 
of 1,250 and we had enthusiastic response from members about the 
DVD. His study course 'Getting Acquainted with The Secret Doctrine' 
is also quite popular here and is regularly used in a number of 
Lodges.

Daniel Caldwell has, arguably, the most comprehensive Blavatsky-
related web site that I know of. Perhaps one day he could post on 
theos-talk the usage statistics for Blavatsky Archives.:) We have a 
link to the site on the Australian Section's web site and many 
members find it very informative. You may not know this, but in the 
past I had some discussions with Daniel and others on theos-talk, 
and at times I would feel like a LSD (Leadbeaterian Sitting Duck), 
but I was also seen sometimes as an ASD (Adyar Spin Doctor).:) Those 
were difficult times but we all apparently survived.

Your knowledge of theosophical history and the Teachings is admired 
by many. However, your attitude to those who disagree with you is 
causing distress, unnecessary hurt feelings and a sense that the 
space on this list has been hijacked by your interests. Therefore I 
would like to respectfully ask you:

Can we bring to this list, which consists of almost 300 people world 
wide, a sense of healing? 

Can we engage in discussions in a spirit of courtesy, consideration 
and mutual respect, abandoning all personal attacks? 

Can we share our love for Theosophy by treating each other in a 
brotherly manner, particularly when we disagree? 

Can you help to restore harmony in this collective space which we 
call theos-talk?

If you decide that all the above is just a load of codswallop from 
an inveterate LSD/ASD, I will understand. But, believe me, I had to 
try and reach out to you in order to remind myself that we were 
once 'as the fingers of one hand'. 

With warm and fraternal regards to you and Angela,

Pedro